De Blasio to target affordable housing in his State of the City

Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to expand New York City's affordable housing stock will be the focus of his second State of the City speech on Tuesday.

An online video teasing the annual speech, a few early news stories about it and conversations with people familiar with its contents indicate the mayor will flesh out his 2013 campaign promise to build 80,000 units of affordable housing and preserve another 120,000 units.

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Tuesday's speech is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Baruch College.

Affordable housing was one of the few major campaign pledges that did not have a substantial roll-out during de Blasio's first year in office. As a result, developers, activists and politicians have been left wondering which neighborhoods will be rezoned and exactly what mechanisms City Hall will rely on for the program.

De Blasio's affordable housing plan, like his predecessor's not dissimilar efforts, relies heavily on private-sector investment and housing preservation, rather than development.

He described the goal in grandiose terms. In October, he called it "the largest affordable housing program that any city, any state has attempted in a 10-year time span in the history of the republic."

"We're taking about the biggest affordable housing plan anyone's tried at the local level anywhere, anytime in the history of the republic. It's an us thing; it's a peoples' thing," the mayor says.

He promises to "explain the plan in a way we never have."

On Jan. 15, he held a press conference to announce he had financed more than 17,300 units of affordable housing during his first year in office, though that number is contested.

The administration is widely expected to propose restructuring the 421-a tax abatement program to facilitate more affordable housing. As of this evening, it remains unclear whether any such proposals would figure in de Blasio's speech.

Several people briefed on the speech said he will make a housing-related announcement specific to Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito's East Harlem/South Bronx district.

Her spokesman declined to comment and a mayoral spokesman would not speak in advance about the contents of the address, which de Blasio's staff is encouraging people to rebrand on social media as the "State of Our City."

His staff also released an online video today touting the mayor's first-year accomplishments, which are expected to be included during a victory lap of sorts in the speech.